This invention relates to a mechanism usable in the gun feeder system shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,118 issued on Dec. 28, 1971 to E. M. Stoner. The added mechanism consists of a number of deflectable pawls at one edge of a feeder chute for temporarily bearing the weight of the linked ammunition prior to entry of the individual ammunition rounds into the gun; the objective is to prevent variations in weight of the linked system from stretching the resilient links and thereby producing inaccuracies in the location of the ammunition rounds. A second mechanism is provided for retracting the pawls when it is necessary to download the linked ammunition out of the chute, e.g. at the end of a firing period or after a gun malfunction.